The arms of a Cold Man
by xOProcrastinator
Summary: A drabble series challenge about UlquiorraOrhime
1. Shattered Dreams

Authors note: This is part of a challenge on livejournal... which I found out hasn't been active since November.. but whatever. xD Anywaaay I think Orihime/Ulquiorra is the most adorable angsty couple EVER (even though I still like Orihime/Uryuu) so that's why i chose them for this ficlet challenge thingy. xD

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own any bleach characters no matter how awesome they may be xD

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Orihime sat in her room in Hueco Mundo silently. She pulled her legs to her body; hugging them to herself while resting her head on top of her knees and looking out the small window which provided an equally small look at the world outside. "Why me?" she couldn't help but wonder. Everyone knew that Ichigo was the strongest in the group, followed by Rukia. What would Aizen want with her?

The sound of a door opening drew her attention from her thoughts and back to reality. She turned her head only to be greeted with the sight of the man who captured her and brought her here into this prison.

Ulquiorra. A sullen looking Arrancar who always seemed to be frowning. In the weeks of her captivity, never once had Orihime seen so much as a ghost of a grin from him. This time was no different. He walked into the room with almost a kingly air about him, and Orihime could swear that she felt the temperature of the room drop about ten degrees.

"I came to see how you were doing." The fourth espada said in that quiet yet commanding tone of his.

She often wondered why he bothered to do such a thing. Wasn't it beneath him? Deciding not to voice these opinions of her, the red-head instead stood up from her couch. Mostly so that he wouldn't see her in such a vulnerable state but also partly because he made her feel obligated to stand in his presence. "Thank you." she replied simply.

"Mm." The Arrancar said in return, glancing around the room. "Your dinner will be brought in shortly." A fact he hadn't needed to announce; by now Orihime had memorized the normal schedule of things.

She shot him a glance filled with questioning before nodding her head, eyes tuned towards the ground. "Is that all Ulquiorra-san?"

Not bothering to give a response to a question that was so pointless in his opinion, the black haired man turned on his heel striding out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, Orihime began to breathe again. There was just something about him that had this crushing effect on her, almost like she was swimming in the ocean with no way to get to the surface. Naturally, part of this was due to his extremely powerful spiritual aura, but there was also something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Sighing in a hopeless way, Orihime slumped back into the rather large couch that decorated her undecorated room. The drab color of the walls - a boring white - was something she herself never would have chosen. But then again, what choice did she have in the matter? With her mind centering on the color scheme of the room, her thoughts drifted away to the memories of her apartment back in Karakura town. A ghost of a smile drifted onto her face as she recalled the vibrant colors that had filled her world throughout her lifetime.

She hadn't wanted much in her life back in Karakura town. Just to graduate, get married to a nice guy, have one or two kids, live a long life to a healthy age with grandchildren, and then die a peaceful death. Now those simple dreams of hers and been shattered; all because of _him_.

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Authors note: comments are nice : D


	2. Fairytales

Authors Note: woot woot Second drabble for 30 hugs on livejournal up xD You guys that reviewed yesterday totally made me motivated to write this. xD like no lie. So this chapter's dedicated to you : D

Disclaimer: -wishes I owned Bleach- xDDDDD

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After the death of her parents, her brother had always filled her head with fairytales. You know the kind; a beautiful princess gets captured only to be rescued by her dazzling knight in shining armor. She knew now that life was nothing like a fairytale. 

Hugging her elbows to her body, Inoue wandered aimlessly around the building where the Espada dwelled. No one had attempted to stop her yet, so she assumed it wasn't against any rule of some kind.

She still hoped that Ichigo – Who she pictured as her Prince Charming - and the others would come to save her from the dragon - which she pictured as Ulquiorra, her prison-keeper.

The sound of footsteps behind her made her shudder; she had come to recognize the footstep patterns and sounds of her two most frequent visitors. Where Ulquiorra's footsteps were nearly silent and slow-paced, the ones she heard now - Grimmjow's - were quite the opposite; as loud as possible and paced as though he was always in a hurry of some kind.

Turning around only to come face-to-face with the grinning blue-haired sexto espada, Inoue couldn't help but take an unconscious step backwards. Her reaction only made Grimmjow's feral grin grow wider.

"Jumpy, eh?" he asked in a ridiculing tone before leering down at her.

The red-head said and did nothing in response, save for looking into the Arrancar's blue eyes with a sort of fed-up ferocity. She couldn't decide who she disliked more; Ulquiorra who said little and was so mysterious about everything or Grimmjow who said everything bluntly and without censorship of any kind.

"What's with that look?" Grimmjow pouted mockingly, advancing towards Inoue until she was backed against a wall with their bodies touching. Her breath hitching at the contact, Orhime pressed herself against the wall as much as she possibly could; hoping, praying that Grimmjow would stop. With a sound of wind whistling past her ear, Inoue was suddenly able to breathe freely, and glancing to the side she found Grimmjow straightening from his crumpled position a good distance down the hall.

Shocked, she looked for the cause that would explain this incident and found the ever-emotionless Fourth Espada. Her eyes widened considerably; he had saved her from God knows what was going to happen.

Maybe there was another Prince Charming in the world where she least suspected to find him.

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Authors note: yosh! NM history's almost over!! -cackle- Random thought of day. xD You guys should definitely keep reviewing : D 


	3. The light from a candle

Authors note: Sorry about the late update guys! I've been so increadibly busy lately x.x Anywaaay, I'll try posting more frequently, but I'm pretty sure I'm going out of town this week (my mom's still deciding xD) sooo it might be awhilee... sorry again! but thanks to all you readers who've faved this and put it on your story alerts, you guys are amazing!

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His world was darkness; it was a fact he had grown accustomed to, even going as far as enjoying the dark placidness that surrounded him in his day-to-day life.

That was until, she had come along. To the ever-so emotionless Ulquiorra, the prisoner girl with the red hair seemed like a candle to light the darkness. When Aizen had assigned him to observing her on earth, he had thought her to be too warm and glowing to the point where it was repulsive.

I mean honestly, who went around hugging their friends? For that matter, who even needed to have hindrances such as friends?

After she had been brought to the prison, the glow that seemed to be constantly radiating from her had seemed to be slowly diminishing with each passing week, and for some reason he couldn't quite name, it made Ulquiorra a little more irritable.

In a roundabout way, he supposed there was a _very_ slim chance that this was due to him becoming as used to the presence of her light as he was to the unfeeling darkness of Hueco Mundo.

Ulquiorra was only sure of one thing; he didn't want to go back to being enveloped in total nothing-ness again. So he came to the conclusion that there was only one thing for him to do - he had to protect _that_ woman's fading smile.

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Authors note: yeaaaaaaah, it's short. I'm sorry.. x.x but then again, these _are_ drabbles.. so yeah xD comments are nice : D


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